Davey looked like every other new kid that ever came into our class. Ms. Madison walked him in and said, "Boys and girls, this is Davey." He was medium height. He had medium brown hair and medium brown eyes. A regular kid.

Summary:

Everybody wants to help Davey. But Davey has one answer for all, "Thanks, but no thanks." Davey is blind; however, he is perfectly capable of doing everything on his own. His well- meaning classmates stop offering help when they see how able Davey is. They respect his self-reliance?until he tries to play kickball. After several missed kicks and a trampled base keeper, no one wants Davey on his team.

Working together, the children figure out a way to offer help that respects Davey's unique abilities and his desire for freedom.

I must confess, I teared up at the end of this book *grin* it is such a wonderful story that teaches children the value and importance of interdependence and independence. It is a great gift to be able to help someone, especially a friend with a disability. But it is an even greater gift to be able to help someone help by allowing them to do things for themselves but still be there for them. In this story, Davey's classmates do just that! They learn that he is quite capable of even kick ball when they give him a chance, and a genius plan that allows Davey to prove his abilities :D This book is a great addition to any home or classroom library. It offers a great opportunity to explore and learn more about disabilities like visual impairment and how to respond to the visually impaired with respect.

11 comments:

So wonderful to see this book reviewed and added to our Perfect Picture Book list! Genevieve Petrillo is one of our 12x12 in 2012 online writing community, so it's particularly exciting to see her book featured. Thank you!

I have not read this book yet, but it sounds excellent. It is such a fine line, respecting an individual for who they are, knowing when to help and when that help is not appropriate. Thanks for posting this one!

I am the illustrator of this book and can't thank you enough for recommending it. I found a school where visually impaired students were in the regular classrooms and used one such class as my models. We had so much fun, and the "star" got to demonstrate his Braille writer to the whole class.